The Cleveland Guardians are one of the youngest teams in baseball, but that is not any excuse for them to not be competing with the top teams in the American League. Many folks figured the Minnesota Twins or Chicago White Sox would win the AL Central before the start of the 2022 season, but Cleveland snuck up on everyone and ended up running away with the AL Central.

The Guardians will be looking to continue to thrive with their underdog mentality heading into Opening Day of the 2023 season, as Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, and Shane Bieber will continue to lead this young roster.

Cleveland's offense was a cause for concern entering the offseason, so they added two power hitters in Josh Bell and Mike Zunino to beef up their lineup. They don't have the top-end power hitters that the Houston Astros or New York Yankees do, but that shouldn't prevent the Guardians from continuing to win in 2023.

Since their team is built on their youth and cheap contracts, it will be difficult for Cleveland to retain all their core players for more than 3-5 seasons. Still, there's a lot of talent on this team, and where there's talent, there's competition. So with Spring Training well underway, let's pick out the top two position battles on the Guardians roster that are worth keeping an eye on.

2. Bullpen

The Guardians pitching staff is impeccable, as they have a top-five starting rotation that can compete with any other team in the league. There are no debates or questions there anymore, but the competition will be more on the bullpen decisions of manager Terry Francona. Their closer will still be hard thrower Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan operating as the top two setup options.

Those three spots are 100% locked for Cleveland, and there are a couple of other guys that are close to locks too. Sam Hentges, Eli Morgan, Enyel De Los Santos, and Nick Sandlin have an inside track for roster spots right now, leaving one bullpen spot open. The Guardians are fantastic at developing top-tier pitchers, so this battle is certainly worth watching. Some names that can be considered for this spot are Tim Herrin, Jason Bilous, Cody Morris, and Touki Toussaint.

Any guy would have a relevant role in Francona's bullpen, but it will likely be a tough decision between Morris and Herrin. Morris brings the reliability of being a long reliever or a sixth starter for Cleveland, while Herrin would be the second lefty in the pen alongside Sam Hentges. Francona can't go wrong here, but it will still be an interesting battle to pay attention to.

1. Backup catcher

The Guardians signed Zunino in free agency over the offseason to come in and replace Austin Hedges as the Guardians starting catcher. Injuries hampered Zunino's 2022 campaign, but he was an All-Star in 2021, and he has the pedigree to perform at an All-Star level. But given his injury concerns, Zunino will need a reliable backup, and there are several candidates for that job right now, with Cam Gallagher, Bryan Lavastida, and Bo Naylor all looking to earn a spot on the major league roster.

Naylor has the highest upside of this group, but he still needs to spend more time at Triple-A in the minors before moving up to the majors. He possesses the rare combination of speed and power at the catcher position, and will likely be a 20 home run, 20 stolen base player if he reaches his full potential. Since Naylor will still be an option later in the season, the backup catcher spot will come down to Gallagher and Lavastida.

Lavastida is already part of the 40-man roster, so it will not require an additional move to include him in the active roster. However, he received only 15 plate appearances in 2022, and Gallagher is better when it comes to working with the pitching staff. The hurdle is that Gallagher is not part of the 40-man roster, so that it will require an additional move for Cleveland, making this an interesting spot to watch throughout Spring Training.